


Red Heart of the Lion

by beautyandtheyeet



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Character Death, Heavy Angst, I just really like angst, Like a fucking lot, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mind Fuck, alfor just really likes swords, also i love lotor, blaytz is iconic, he was a pure baby, its a red paladin thing, keith really just needs a break, poor boy, sorry lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-09-18 10:14:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16993086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautyandtheyeet/pseuds/beautyandtheyeet
Summary: Resilient. That was all that Keith heard running through his mind as it happened. Resilient. That was what the team complimented him on. Resilient. That was his Galra blood. The only good thing, that's what made him the Red Paladin, and maybe Shiro's boyfriend.





	Red Heart of the Lion

The Red Paladin awoke shivering, in the bleakness of the Galran cell. There was a permanent frown plastered on his face. How long had he been here? The quintats had blurred together, there was no clear concept of time for him anymore. All he knew was that Sendak was planning on using his helmet and armor for something bigger than he could imagine. Florescent lights flickered upon Keith's face as tall figures hung over him. Keith didn't fight anymore, so he stood, his legs almost giving out, and walked into the Galrans clasps. Keith had learned the route to the lab that Sendak had been working in. The table had been laid into a seat, but it looked ominous under the shading of lights. His helmet was being tinkered on by some Galran engineer.

"Sit." He was ordered, and for once, did as he was told. Resilient. They only locked him around his stomach, which was a red flag from the beginning. It felt like hours before Sendak entered the room. He merely sent a glare towards the engineer and received a small nod. Keith began to hear feedback from his helmet, they were calling the team. Immediately he heard the panicked cries of his team, it was pure cacophony. He hadn't even realized that Sendak had swiftly coursed forward.

* * *

 

All Shiro heard was the resonating snap before a sharp scream. The scream burned his heart, and made him feel nauseous.

"Beg for them to come and get you. Or do they just not care for you, its been 14 quintants since I've captured you." Sendak sent his voice rippling through the comms. Pidge was crying, Hunk was doing his best, but even the best fall down sometimes. Lance was shook, Allura was being comforted by Coran who was trying to hide his feelings.

"Oh, Number 4." Coran began to cry hysterically.

Keith had quietened, it was eerily quiet. There were very few sounds made, until he heard a wet cough, like he stabbed through the abdomen. Shiro started to hear a ripping sound as they made their way to the lions.

* * *

 

Resilient. That was all that Keith heard running through his mind as it happened. Keith had proceeded to jerk around in the chair and began yelling incomprehensible phrases. He was weak though, he was losing his will to move. The team had already heard countless screams from him, and he had already been stabbed a few times. What more could happen? A whole fucking lot, apparently. Sendak stalked over towards him and then he unstrapped him, much to his surprise. Sendak then injected something into his bloodstream. Within the moment, his body gave out and he collapsed.

He woke up back in his bed on the Castle of Lions, everything seemed normal, yet it had this sense of uneasiness. When he confronted Shiro, he realized how terrible he felt.

"You wouldn't be in this bad of shape if you knew just when quit! You were only thinking of yourself, what about Voltron? Huh? Where would we find a new Red Paladin? Stop being so selfish and think of everyone else for once!" Shiro hadn't exactly raised his voice, but it broke Keith's heart all the same. That's when the white noise began to fill his ears.

"Keith, wake up." Sendak whispered menacingly in his ear. His hand was on the broken forearm. He was guiding his hand to the actual bone and began to pull his bone from his body.

His scream lasted 6 doboshes and 48 ticks. Shiro counted, and his heart froze when he saw the sight of Sendak towering over Keith. Sendak began to pick the limp paladin's body, to use as he heard the other paladins arriving. Sendak placed the knife at Keith's pale throat, just to scare the paladins. Hunk aimed and hit the shot perfectly, but it was ruined upon hearing Keith's body hit the reddened floor.

"Guess he's the Red Paladin for a reason, huh?" Lance tried to be the comedic relief. It hadn't taken away the fact that they had been able to do nothing for almost 15 quintants now.

They had gotten Keith into a healing pod immediately, with none of them leaving, just sitting in a comfortable silence, watching the Red Paladin slumber.

"You promised me you wouldn't get hurt. You promised me." Shiro mumbled to himself, on the verge of crying. The healing pod opened vargas later, but yet Keith was still unconscious as Shiro caught him. His body was cold, and was still bloody; his pulse was almost nonexistent.

* * *

 

It had taken approximately 3 quintants for Keith to awaken, but everyone was just glad that he was okay. The paladin was still shaken up, and could barely walk, but he didn't show it, not now, not when things need to be done. He had immediately jumped into training and began to overwork himself. He just needed something to distract him from the phantom pain in his wrist, from the newly scarred tissue, from the scars all over his hand, from the bloodied undersuit, from the screams, from the pleading of the paladins, from the amount of worry from Red.

Someone grabbed his hands, bringing him out of his trance. He gazed up to find Shiro's worried eyes and a frown. Keith looked down at his bloodied hands and the poor training bot he had decimated. Keith had let Shiro lead him to his own bedroom to clean up his hands when it all went to shit. Keith just broke down upon feeling the pain of his wrist intensify, and all of his internal conflicts weren't really helping, so he ended up crying even harder.

"You've got to calm down so I can fix you up, okay?" Shiro hadn't noticed Keith was crying yet, he had always been a quiet crier. But Shiro was observant and heard the sharp intakes of breath. It seemed impossible to not stride over to Keith and hug him. It seemed unfair to Keith, him being captured wasn't even his fault. Keith had just been the only one to make rational decisions while under immense pressure, and his logic was right, despite being against everything Voltron stood for. He had risked himself to save the other paladins. His logic of saving the four and losing one was smarter than losing all five and saving none of them.

"I don't need fixing. Anyway if I did, I am capable of doing it myself, I did it for basically my entire life. I don't need anyone." Keith managed to still be resilient. It was admirable, but Shiro didn't let himself be upset by the words. It was just a defense mechanism that Keith always found himself relying on.

"That doesn't mean that I don't want to, Keith. I care about your wellbeing, I care that you are healthy, mentally and physically." Shiro sat down in front of him and gently pulled Keith's right hand towards him to wipe the dried blood off of.

* * *

  
Keith was begging for Shiro to come back. His chest felt tight, it hurt to breathe. He felt like he was going to be sick, why did Lance think this was a good idea? Why did he force this torture upon him? This was mentally tearing him apart.

It was like Lance was ripping apart every memory and pointing out all of his flaws, his mistakes, his fears. He was degrading him.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR CONDESCENDING WORDS, LANCE! I MAKE MISTAKES! Please just stop." The words lost their sharpness, and in turn, became soft and low. Keith turned on his heel and quickly and tried to escape, whether it be Lance, or the mere room. His breath was becoming shaky, he mentally couldn't handle this, and there was no one to truly understand, not like Shiro.

"He isn't coming back, Keith. He has Adam. He doesn't need you anymore." Lance was mocking him, throwing his delicate feelings back into his face.

What did Adam have that Keith didn't? Keith couldn't breathe anymore, his own foolishness choking him. He had only chose to live for Shiro, and he left him. Like everyone else, his chest began to feel to tight. His eyes were beginning to darken, the whites of his eyes tinted yellow as the seconds passed. His vision was splotchy. Shiro couldn't have left, was Keith not good enough? He had given everything. What more did he have?

* * *

  
"Lance, get him out of there!" Shiro basically screamed at Lance. He didn't know what was happening, but Keith was currently in a fetus position, clutching his legs like it was the end out the world. It may have been, as it seemed his lungs refused to work.

"I CAN"T GET IT OPEN!" Lance was visibly shaken. He would never admit it out loud, but seeing the strongest member of the team like this was frightening. Shiro could see Keith's body gasping for air. He hurried to help Lance open the airlocked door. Keith's fetus position was getting weaker as the ticks went by, as less oxygen was made it's way to his brain. The door finally budged and gave way. Shiro immediately rushed to the unconscious Red Paladin. Keith seemed to weigh nothing as the adrenaline pumped through Shiro's body to scoop Keith up.

"Come on, Keith. You'll be alright." Shiro checked for the paladin's pulse. It was weaker than he would have liked, but it was present. Shiro was glad, but Keith's breathing was still unnaturally shallow. Keith began to writhe in his arms, like he didn't want to be there, in his arms. Maybe he just didn't want to be here at all.

 


End file.
